The Night Sky
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: The fusion of Chaos and Hope didn't solve all the problems that had arisen since Galaxia's first attack. It just solved the most pressing of them. Now it was just the little things…
1. Prologue

**A/N: **My first Sailor Moon fic, a month after finally finishing the entire thing. Not really the kind of stuff I usually write in any case, but no harm in trying something new (well, maybe not exactly _new_) – ah, never mind all that.

Okay, context. This is set during episode 200, almost immediately after Chaos' defeat (but before they have a good long talk) and well before the little farewell on the school's rooftop and that romantic moment on the balcony. Basically, this whole fic is a filler tying loose ends together.

And my idea of romance isn't very…fluffy. I'm more of the angst kind of girl. Hopefully didn't do too badly. It does have a plot though.

Sorry if it's not up to scratch. Currently don't possess the brain capacity to proofread.

And that's it for me. Enjoy, and R&R.

* * *

_**The Night Sky**_

_Prologue_

Chiba Mamoru fished through his set of apartment keys before finding the correct one and slipping it into the lock, running the other hand through his hair. His subconsciousness gave him a nudge at that point; instead of the moist mat he was accustomed to during the Japanese summers, he had been met with dry and somewhat stiff strands standing amidst raised skin.

He left the key in the lock and looked around, before giving his head a little shake. Of course it was colder than the usual summer. The building was closed after all, and considering the chaos the world had just emerged from, there was very little heat to be added to it. He wouldn't be surprised if he learnt the sun itself had gone out during that time – he had disappeared from the earth for several months after all…at least three according to the advertisement he had passed on the way back. Since Galaxia had taken his Star Seed on the plane to America – that reminded him, he would have to track his luggage down. It was probably still at the airport terminal…or wherever they put unclaimed luggage. After all, _he_ had never arrived in America with his things. It was a miracle he had his keys.

Actually, it was more thanks to Usagi that he had his keys, but she was a miracle in herself. After all, she'd been the one who'd saved them all. She'd also handed him her copy of his apartment keys before he departed from her house. He'd stared at them for a blank moment; it had never occurred to him that he didn't have a way into his only living quarters. Then he thanked his lucky stars (it wouldn't occur to him for a while to reconsider his choice of words) that he hadn't cancelled the withdrawals from his account that covered the rent for the said apartment, even if it was mostly for sentimental reasons that he sacrificed 350,000 yen a month.

Well…that and the fact that he had never gotten around to cleaning up the shattered glass frames from his brief moment of insanity under Nehelenia's spell. Truth be told, the little shards made him sick to his stomach to look at, and it had been on the same day that he had received his letter of acceptance and gotten caught up with the new wave.

He turned the key and heard the tell-tale click before seizing the cold handle. For a moment, he wondered in what state he would find his home – after all, the smells of home had probably escaped with the passed time – before he pushed open the door.

Instantly, the smell of damp roses wafted through his nose and he blinked in surprise before catching sight of the perpetrator: a vase on his coffee table with his favourite flowers wilting within them. From the looks of them, they would last perhaps a day more before the once vivacious red crumbled into black. Which meant someone had been in the apartment within the last few days.

If that wasn't a tipoff, there was very little dust to be spotted, and several of his coffee mugs had mysteriously disappeared. Upon further inspection of his living quarters, he found it had been freshly cleaned and a lemon smell persisted in the kitchen, bathroom and single bedroom in particular, and all shrapnel of broken glass had been removed, leaving only a stain of blood and a single mirror atop the bathroom cabinet. It wasn't one of his; they were all shattered, but he could tell Usagi had brought it for him from the moon patterns around the outer rim.

And considering she was the only person with the key, she must have been the one to clean up his apartment and leave the vase of roses on the table. A pang rippled through his heart at that quick conclusion; the odds that Usagi had known his exact fate was rather slim, but he could not begin to imagine the pain and loneliness that had come from that separation. She had waved him off with a brave face, the ring he had brought her for glittering on her ring finger without a formal proposal – but that didn't matter, because both of them knew they wished to spend the rest of their lives together. In any case, the ring had been a spur-on-the-moment decision; as far as he knew, her parents weren't exactly aware of their relationship.

They'd have to fix that soon. Hopefully before Tsukino-san castrated him for dating his daughter and giving her an engagement ring.

Of course, Usagi would probably stop him.

A smile slid over his face as his eyes fell upon the portrait, the blonde hanging onto his arm and grinning at the camera. She'd smiled like that they day they'd said their farewells too, and just a half-hour ago on the porch of the Tsukino family home…and almost every day he had known her. Of course, their (the smiles he meant) moods varied from utter bliss over a jelly filled donut to the mask hiding sorrows behind that sweet face…and that was the smile that had bidden him goodbye. But she hadn't been smiling then. After Galaxia had gone. After Chaos had fused with the hearts of mankind along with the Light of Hope; he'd felt that light, and then a young girl – far younger than Chibiusa but somehow far more familiar – had appeared like an angel beckoning him to the doors of Heaven.

And then Usagi had been in his arms, as bare as the day she had been born and pouring her heart upon his chest along with the burdens she had borne. Not alone – she would never be alone. The entire world put their trust in her after all: the Senshi and himself most of all. There had been four new people present though, and they had somewhat unnerved him. Tall figures silhouetted by shadow and a rose red with thin tails of hair fluttering like a stray butterfly wing. Some sort of fragrance had surrounded them too; it was nothing like the lemon wafting through his apartment nor the strawberry shampoo Usagi commonly lathered through her blonde strands.

Usagi had waved to them. Haruka had flicked a hand – it was a motion balancing between acceptance and something to the contrary – and then the quartet had departed like stars shooting across the brightening sky.

He pushed his curtains back, watching the afternoon sun grinning happily, showing no semblance to the fate that had almost destroyed it, and them, forever. But it was gone, and Usagi had been grinning too as she'd stood on the porch, illuminated by the orange light wafting through the light hair. The dumplings upon her head had never looked more beautiful than they had at that moment, dancing atop her head. He smiled for a moment before letting the curtain drift closed once more. It may have been three in the afternoon in Tokyo, but his brain was floating at six in the morning. All a consequence of travelling backwards over time-zones. It would be an hour after midnight in Chicago too; he couldn't possibly do anything about his…position, having disappeared for the length of a trimester.

The answering machine blinked at him as he passed, abandoning the window as one hand absentmindedly felt the smooth skin of his chin. No traces of a stubble at all. He could take a quick nap before deciding what to explain to his professors.

And then he'd have to think about a great many other things, because the thought of whether or not he could leave Usagi a second time crossed his mind along with the light tendrils of sleep.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Right, I forgot to mention this last time, but this fic will (hopefully) be updated once a month between the thirteenth and the fifteenth. This month is just late.

* * *

_**The Night Sky**_

_Chapter 1_

Her sleep had never been so peaceful. As always after a long and bone-wearing battle, her body ached from exhaustion while her mind jumped at every twitch of shadow. She had watched the pale moonlight stream through the curtains as they danced hand in hand with the breeze tricking through the window's narrow opening till she had fallen asleep, golden locks curled lightly around Luna's form as the cat protectively burrowed into the mane. It was difficult, as it always was, to believe that a war that had gone on for centuries had been resolved – resolved, not ended, because those battles between Hope and Chaos could never truly be ended. Galaxia was right about that, but they had to trust in the strength of humans and their hearts to never let the darkness grow so fierce and uncontrollable. To trust that there'll always be someone whose spirit is beautiful and pure, who's not ready to slash down the source of the problem and instead carry the chalice of healing to their womb.

She wasn't sure quite _when_ she finally managed to close her eyes to sleep; she knew only that she had eventually succumbed to it, because the next thing she remembered after the gentle silver light of the moon was the harsher replica of the sun, burning through her eyelids, and a sharp voice in the ear not squashed against the pillow.

'Usagi. It's time to wake up for school.'

_School?_ The word sounded so _foreign_ with sleep and fatigue still pulling at her. The voice sounded foreign too, after silence after an eternity had filled her ears following tears and pleas and cries of pain, death…and determination.

She opened her eyes.

''ka-kaa-san?'

'Well, this is unusual,' her mother responded, opening the curtains. The room suddenly lit up as all remaining shadows were banished, and Luna arched her back as the light from the sun scratched her fur. 'I normally have to wake you four times, and even then you only get up in time to sprint out the door with half your things.'

Usagi blinked tiredly. Part of her mind was still trapped within the mind-numbing aftermath and the heart-felt reunion that followed. So reluctant had they all been to part that night had fallen before they left the rooftop. Together, they'd walked back to the Hikawa shrine, their self-proclaimed meeting place and where Haruka had left her car. They'd lingered long enough for Grandpa Hino to offer them an excuse to prolong their visit: dinner.

To his utter surprise though, the meal was a rather subdued affair. The group had shaken their heads when the old man wondered as to their group dynamics. The truth was that the events of that day simply needed time to sink in. For Usagi, all that mattered at that point were that her precious friends were alive and in her sight. Mamoru kept his arm around her; she leaned into his chest. As the hours dragged on, they walked back to her home together, departing on the front doorstep as the warmth of that final embrace lingered. Haruka had taken Michiru, Setsuna and Hotaru as per usual, and had offered Minako and Artemis a ride (there had only been one more seat in the car). Makoto had, in lieu of the empty apartment awaiting her, chosen to spend the night, and Ami had accompanied Usagi and Mamoru partway before heading home to her mother.

Usagi's parents had been home…and rather upset (a healthy balance between worried and angry) at her late arrival. She, however, had suddenly found herself too tired to muster up an explanation, so the emotions had turned to concern following her up to bed.

That concern still laced her mother's tone as she sat at the edge of the bed and put a hand to her forehead.

'You're not feverish,' Ikuko murmured, touching her free palm to her own forehead.

'I'm not sick 'kaa-san,' Usagi replied. 'Just a little tired is all.'

Her mother pursed her lips. 'Well, I suppose it isn't a wonder, staying out with your friends so late when you had school the next day.'

'An emergency came up.' That was all the explanation she had given the previous day as well. She knew she would have to elaborate eventually, but the lateness yesterday and the time-constraint today would hopefully save her from that.

'You've said as much already.' There was a hint of reprimand in Ikuko's tone. 'And yet you've failed to explain exactly what this "emergency" was.'

'It's a long story,' the blonde mumbled, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes.

'Well, I do hope you're planning on explaining at some point young lady.' There was still a bit of worry in the mother's tone, but her voice had crispened. 'In the meantime, you'd better shower – goodness knows what this emergency was to get your hair in _that_ state –'

Usagi blinked at her reflection in the mirror at that comment, seeing the long strands spotted with flecks of grey and brown. She immediately grimaced.

_Uurgh…and I slept like that…_

It must have been from the TV station. Speaking of –

'Shinji! Were you playing video games last night again? How many times have I told you –'

Her little brother's voice cut through their father's.

'I did no such thing 'tou-san!'

'Shinji, don't yell at your father,' Ikuko scolded, exiting her daughter's room before poking her head in again as an afterthought. 'And Usagi, _please_, don't get back to bed.'

'I won't 'kaa-san.' If she tried, the sudden and rather stubborn itchiness in her hair would stop that.

'Usagi-chan was very tired last night,' Luna commented, once Ikuko's footsteps were heard going down the stairs.

'I can't believe I didn't notice,' Usagi sighed, scratching away.

'Ah, don't do that, Usagi-chan.' Luna leapt onto her lap, pawing the hands away.

Usagi let a smile, albeit a tired one, slip onto her face. 'You're right Luna,' she said. 'I'll just shampoo it.' The smile grew more tender. 'Good old 'kaa-san, always trying to get me up on time.'

She lifted her hands to her neck, unlatching the chain that hung there, before setting both it and the ring it carried beside a picture frame. Mamoru smiled gently back at her from its image.

* * *

Mamoru slept the night away like a log, and felt about the same when he awoke: stiff and sore. A hot shower soon put that right however, and he emerged, towelling his hair, to the smell of his morning coffee.

Apparently, he had went through his usual rituals with little attention. Luckily, his body remembered what to do when his mind did not. And so, ten minutes later, he sat with the steaming mug and two slices of toast in front him: his usual hasty meal before lectures began.

Except…he was supposed to be in America. And America was fourteen hours behind Tokyo time. What he should have done, he realised, the aroma of grounded beans wafting through his nose, was called the campus when he had arrived the night before. Although, six in the afternoon wasn't exactly "bad" per say for an emergency call of sorts.

He'd already dialled the number before it occurred to him to think of any sort of reasonable explanation.

'University of Chicago.'

'Ah…Professor-' Mamoru paused, before repeating the statement in English.

'Who is speaking?' The Professor's tone was simply harried; he had apparently dealt with more than his fair share of problems that day.

'This is Mamoru Chiba.'

There was a bit of an awkward pause.

'Mr Chiba?' Now, it sounded a little baffled.

'Yes sir.'

Another wait.

'You're…' There was the sound of papers shuffling. 'I must admit, this is quite unexpected –' More shuffling. 'I don't suppose, Mr Chiba, that you could explain your disappearance? It was quite baffling that you did not disembark in Chicago after your itinerary was checked in Tokyo International Airport.'

'Uhh…'

'I suppose that was too much to ask for,' the Professor pressed on. 'There are several things that will need to be sorted out.' His tone changed towards a more professional manner. 'Come into my office tomorrow at eight. I'll call the necessary delegations. Where are you at?'

'Ah…my apartment.' The conversation wasn't exactly going as expected…but he hadn't known what to expect either. It was too much to hope for that things would be easily solved after such an unexplainable disappearance.

'Apartment?' The tone had returned to bafflement.

'In Tokyo, sir,' the other said by means of explanation.

'Tokyo.' The Professor said the word as if it were foreign. 'This does pose a problem.' More scraping sounds followed. 'We tried contacting your apartment, you understand? We also called your local university, but they had no idea of your whereabouts. You had no family, and the young girl whose contact details you'd left on your emergency list –'

There was an additional something in his tone that caused Mamoru to interrupt: 'She's my fiancé.'

'Ah…yes-' The Professor coughed, before ploughing on. 'She sent numerous letters to your dorm address.'

'I have already spoken with her.' That seemed all he could say, even if it wouldn't be enough. A part of him ached at the thought of the hours, and the tears, that had gone into those letters. The same ache as when she had lost all restraint and sobbed into his chest, after a victory that then had been both the most fulfilling and the most hollow.

'Those can be arranged to be sent to your current address.' After a pause, the Professor's tone returned to its crisp state. 'The term you've missed however – unless you chose not to return.'

Apparently, he'd caught the pain in the other's turn.

Mamoru leaned against the cool wall of his apartment, not yet warm from the heat the sun emitted outside.

'I don't know yet,' he admitted truthfully. 'I think though…for now at least…the most important things to me are here.'

'Then your enrolment here will be deferred. You will need to speak to your local university as to what path you will take. Of course, there are smaller matters to be sorted, but they can be done electronically.' There was a pause. 'Your disappearance was classed as international, however that can also be changed to a local case as the exact point of your disappearance is unknown.' There was another awkward pause following. 'I take it there was no…ah, _harm_ –'

'I am fine sir.'

The Professor coughed. 'That is good to hear. In any case, if you chose to remain in Japan, you have no further business with us until you either take up your deferred course or cancel it.'

'Understood sir.'

There was the sound of something being scribbled. 'Very well then. Our short acquaintance was an interesting one, Mr Chiba.'

That was an unusual departure, but under the circumstances, the only farewell that made sense.

So he wouldn't be going to America after all. Not for at least another eight months. Somehow, be couldn't help but feel relieved about that.

A part of him wondered though. Wondered if he would regret that decision in the coming months. After all, it had not been made lightly.

But then again, the dream hadn't really been a dream. Just a channel he had floundered into in search of the river's current. No doubt he would regret, at times – it was inevitably a part of human nature after all. With Chaos now living in the hearts of mankind along with hope, new battles rose to the surface. Smaller ones, perhaps, than the famed Sailor Wars that had wracked the galaxy, but no less important.

But-, he thought to himself, shaking his head. All that came after the healing process. For that moment, it was simply rest.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Made it…a day late. Not as bad as recently, so I'm getting there. X-1999 plot bunnies. And pracs for uni. Now, if I could find the time to do that chapter of Death Note I skipped in my schedule…And I'm going to fall behind again because of Eid, aren't I? Oh, and the mid-sems coming up…

Ignore my rambling and enjoy. I succeeded in accidently complicating my plot. Minako and Ami weren't supposed to show up this chapter (if at all – didn't think that far ahead).

On a more technical note, I seem to have forgotten all the honorfics involved with Sailor Moon. I think I remember what Usagi called everyone, but I don't recall Mamoru ever being addressed by the other Sailor Scouts (as I've only watched the last season in Japanese so there isn't a whole lot to work with). I doubt they'd call him Mamoru-_chan_ though…except Rei if she was teasing.

Ack, took me a while to figure out the mini-dividers. So now it's friday my time. Probably not for all you guys though.

Enjoy.

* * *

**_The Night Sky_**

_Chapter 2_

Usagi closed her eyes as the cool water washed over her tired body. For a moment she simply enjoyed the sensation: the trickling streams running through her hair and cascading down her back. The stray drops pattered gently against the shower screen and she felt for a moment she was standing outside with the sweet summer rain washing away the world, except for her and the precious things she clung to.

After a few moments, she reached for the shampoo and lathered the gel into her hair. The cool jelly-like substance slithered about as it foamed, and she let it settle for a moment before continuing to massage the strawberry through to her scalp. Her fingers felt the rough tips of new roots, slowly combing out the foreign obstacles, the uncomfortable fragments. When the major obstacles were gone, she used her brush, the rain never ceasing to pour gently over her body in a purifying waterfall.

By the time she emerged from the shower, she was feeling much better.

She was also running late. Ami and Minako were at her doorstep.

–

The walk to school was quiet. Subdued. Neither of the three girls felt particularly inclined to talk. It felt…odd somehow, returning to a regular life after such a trying battle. It happened every time; they'd be uptight for a few days, as if waiting for a stray remnant to whip around and attack them, or waiting to wake up and find their final victory a dream – and it had happened before. Both occasions.

And then things would settle down into the gentle ebb of life…only to pick up again as a new enemy entered their lives. They'd hoped that after Beryl it would be all over; it had been Beryl who had destroyed the Moon Kingdom after all. But another battle had followed after that, and more thereafter…and then there had been Chibiusa, and the knowledge that they fought even a thousand years in the future.

It was a small comfort to know they would live that long. Because if the past was worth coming back to, then the future, although beautiful, must also be wondrously cold.

They'd seen it, if just a little. The colours were paler than the today, less vibrant. The world was more segregated; the Senshi had been old, so _old_…and yet at the same time so young. It was almost as if time had passed within a sheet of ice. Why hadn't any of _them_ gotten married? Why didn't they have children, or lives outside the palace?

Maybe they did. Maybe it was simply the time upon which they had happened upon: a crystal city frozen in the midst of a siege, four stern warriors standing back to back in the palace centre, tying their life force to the shield that kept them alive as the body of the Queen of Crystal Tokyo slept in a solid crystal and her King remained trapped, soul wandering the labyrinth in the hopes that the saviours will stumble upon him.

But it had been a sad place. Beautiful…but sad. And Chibiusa, the sadness she had carried as Black Lady while growing up in that world, buried behind the innocent expression…

And her _manners_ – Usagi was not exactly known for her good manners after all. Amiable certainly, and a sunflower blooming in the world for the most part, but social etiquette would not score an "A". She had improved greatly over the year, but the freedom of her soul was indistinguishable. She simply could not bring herself to devote to something that wasn't truly important to her…and while school had been compulsory up till the last year and her parents wished for her to at least graduate from senior high, she had little prospect for an academic future. Her grades rarely exceeded a B– at her best (and that being in recent times as the homework served as a distraction and a focus for her mind). So the fact that she had somehow instilled such polite mannerisms into her only child was a mark of how frozen the future seemed.

But that was a thousand years from their time. For all she knew, they had died and reincarnated by the era of Crystal Tokyo. In fact, that was more probable…but she still loved Chibiusa like a daughter (when they weren't fighting like a sister).

'Minako-chan,' Usagi said suddenly, passing by a store and seeing a cute little red dress on display. 'Do you ever think about Crystal Tokyo?'

The blonde blinked. Ami, a few paces ahead, blinked too.

'Crystal Tokyo?' the Soldier of Venus repeated. 'I suppose…only about Chibiusa. Why?'

'I was thinking…' the Princess of the Moon mused quietly. 'About our future there. Whether it's really us – it's a thousand years; how can we live that long? And it was just Chibiusa, all alone with no kids her age, and you always dreamt of getting married, and-'

–

Usagi stopped blabbing as Minako's finger gently sealed her lips. 'Hush, Usagi-chan,' Minako replied. 'We understand you. But to answer your question…no, I didn't really think about that. I think of all the things I want to do, the things I feel I don't have the time for when fighting to save the world…' She was remembering her audition notices, still lying in the second draw. Her ticket to fame…but Galaxia's minions had been causing havoc at the time and her heart had simply not been in it. Even Yaten – Star Healer – had realised it. Even though he did give his vote to her in the end.

Another audition notice had come in the mail; it sat on her bedside table, unopened…unless Artemis had gotten into her mail again. She doubted it; it had been there for a few days, and that morning had been the only chance she had gotten to even think about it.

But she hadn't looked at it. Not the part, the requirements nor even the date. Part of her was still expecting something to happen, thinking that the war they had fought was not yet over, or another loomed on the horizon. It was like the adrenaline that lingered after a fight, keeping one on edge, taking all hope for relaxation and rest –

'You know me,' she said with a smile, closing her eyes for a step before opening them again. 'I live in the present. I'll find my dreams and chase after them on roller-blades, and nothing will stand in my way.'

'They must be very special dreams, Minako-chan.'

Minako laughed at that. 'Like your dreams with Mamoru-kun?

The other blonde tipped her head curiously. 'I suppose,' Usagi said thoughtfully, missing Ami's scolding glare towards the Soldier of Love. 'I missed him terribly before…and now he's back and we can spend all the time in the world together.' Her eyes dimmed slightly. 'Until another enemy shows up, or Mamoru-chan goes back to America, or –'

Minako replaced her finger on the Moon Princess' lips. 'You're blabbing again, Usagi-chan.'

'Ahh.' She took a small breath to steady herself, hangs unconsciously wringing the brooch that clung to her uniform. A little higher should be the ring she usually wore around her neck…but she had forgotten it in her haste, back home. 'Ami-chan?'

'Yes, Usagi-chan?' the slightly smaller Senshi asked.

'Do you think of your future?'

Ami smiled a little at that. 'My dreams haven't changed from what they were, although they have grown a little. I still want to become a doctor, and help others, but now I know there are other things I want to do as well, like write lyrics, songs…and understand people too…'

'Ami-chan –'

'But I want to rest, first of all.'

Both blondes blinked at that. 'Rest?'

Ami turned to them. 'Aren't you tired too? After this fight?'

Perhaps it was true at everything became lost on the path to war, only to wait at the sides of roads to be collected.

* * *

Mamoru had sat upon his couch for a full fifteen minutes before it occurred to him he should, perhaps, put his time to better use. One matter had been taken care of; several others remained. While his Tokyo campus _was_ open at this time, few Professors were available and certainly none of the administration; he would have to wait at least an hour, perhaps two, before they began seeing people.

It might be better to see what he had missed out on. But when he left the couch, he found himself missing its warmth. Its comfort. Its security.

It was strange that one could think to crave warmth so close to the summer months, filled with their heat. The rain would start pouring soon: the monsoons that signified that end and the beginning of a freezing earth…and then what? The roses would darken with frostbite instead of sagging with thirst. Only in the brief reprieve between the two extremes could they stand and bloom at their best.

How ironic that he was the rose, and the one who owned his heart the moon that smiled upon his planet and kingdom save when the face slept on the other side of the world. The times he could not have her, when the earth and the moon found themselves too far apart to be seen together.

He almost settled back onto the couch before reconsidering. It would do no good to become a couch potato. He had not gone jogging in months (through no fault of his own he may add), and a cup of coffee was begging to be drunk…even though he was sure he'd already had his first. He juggled with the idea of making another; the water was still quite hot, but decided against it as he changed into more suitable outdoor clothes. He had change; he could pick one up from the numerous street-stands.

Along with a newspaper. And some fresh air. And perhaps shake of the lethargy too.

–

His jog followed the usual route; it simply took longer, and was more taxing on his body. The loose change had wound up going towards a Styrofoam cup after all; the vendor had been happy to supply him with one. School was in progress; universities too. And work…work was never-ending. Most people were occupied elsewhere.

Speaking of work…he would have to meet with his boss as well.

But first, he would have to finish his run. Adapt back into a lifestyle that had vanished into the darkness of eternal space. Into an embrace that had grown cold and stiff from months without him.

He couldn't have helped but notice she had worn the ring he gave her around her neck. Perhaps it was a lucky thing; he had not asked her parents' permission yet.

In fact, he'd barely met the pair, except for the one time Chibiusa had disappeared. It was going to be a distinctively awkward meeting.

He suddenly felt a pang for his own parents…or lack thereof. A past that lurked still in shadows: memories stolen from an accident a dozen years ago. Things he rarely thought about; the whole in his heart had been long since filled, and yet…thinking about Usagi's parents, about the prospect of asking them for their daughter's hand, reminded him that his own would never get to see the one who owned his heart and covered it with her shining light.

Perhaps…the only things he never regretted was giving his heart to Usagi.

–

He'd collected his newspaper, drained his coffee and finished his run. Not a bad morning's work, except his thighs were already beginning to ache as he walked up the stairs to his apartment. He felt a little lighter, as though there were stones that had fallen away to pave his path – somewhat like the English story of Hansel and Gretel, except he wasn't trying to find his way back to the past.

Or at least he didn't think he was.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Made it…late. Again. I don't recall Usagi addressing Seiya by any honorific but that might be just me. I've just used Seiya for here. I also don't recall Naru being in the final arc, so she's Naru-chan too. And remember students can change classrooms for electives.

IMPORTANT: NO MONTHLY UPDATES FOR OCTOBER

The time will be used to catch up on my weekly updates, get my backlog back up in time for the half of exams in November, and deal with my practical overload for what remains of the semester. Hopefully, I'll be all sorted out in time for November, but that depends on my exam timetable so it's possible updates may still be delayed.

* * *

_**The Night Sky**_

_Chapter 3_

Naru was surprised to peak into the classroom to find Usagi already seated in her seat. She was however not surprised to find the blonde tiredly slumped over the mahogany desk, a textbook propped up in pretense should the teacher walk in. Surprisingly, the ruse still worked on occasion, perhaps because they had moved from junior high school to senior high and thus their new teacher was not familiar in the least with the antics Sakurada Haruna knew all too well. Of course, the fact that Usagi had been rather more diligent as of late possibly attributed to the image working – many of their classmates, not all of whom had followed them from the junior high school they attended. Because school was no longer compulsory by the point, there were less senior high schools than junior, and some of the students had achieved scores admitting them into private institutions. Very few had, particularly when both Mizuno Ami and Umino Gurio – her cheeks went a little pink just thinking about him, which consequently made her wonder to his current absence – had chosen not to despite ranking first and (_de facto_) second respectively. And then there was the issue of being separated; her homeroom was across the hall.

But that was, at the current moment, less important than her best friend. A little guiltily, she was reminded of the fact that the two had not spoken beyond brief exchanges in quite a while; either she had been busy with Gurio or she had been unable to contact Usagi; it was normally her phone being busy, but on occasion she had called only for her mother or brother to answer the phone and claim she was "out with friends".

If she was painfully honest with herself, that bit stung. But it was understandable; she _had_ been busy. But at least she'd put in the effort, she huffed thereafter. Surely Usagi's family passed along the messages.

And to just vanish from school like that yesterday? She'd been worried. But the phone had gone unanswered.

'Usagi-chan?' Naru's voice came out a little more clipped than she intended, but it served the purpose well enough.

Usagi lifted her head. 'Naru-chan…'

'Where'd you run off to yesterday?'

'Ahh…' The other turned her head slightly, and Naru mimicked the action.

'So you don't want to tell me, huh.'

'Naru-'

'It's okay.' A toe scuffed along the floor. 'I guess we're just not that close anymore.' She ignored the sob rising in her throat; it was something she wanted to deny. Up till the last year they'd done _everything_ together, from flunking tests to stalking cute boys at the mall. But then they'd started to drift apart. 'You've got your new friends to go boyfriend hunting with…'

Usagi actually laughed at that, catching the other off guard. 'I've had a boyfriend for awhile,' she said, sounding almost jubilant. 'He left to study in America at the start of the year, and I saw him again yesterday after so long.' The head raised; blue eyes sparked in the morning light creeping through the windows. 'Naru-chan…you won't believe how much I missed him. It felt like something was just missing…'

Naru almost laughed herself; to think it had been so painfully simple. Usagi hadn't been ignoring her at all, she'd just been going through a relationship angst.

Something else clicked. 'Ah, so that's who you were writing all those letters to.'

Usagi nodded. 'I just _had_ to keep writing, even though he couldn't reply.'

'Couldn't reply?' Somehow, Usagi's tone and her words weren't matching. 'Usagi-chan, are you sure this guy is good for you?'

'Of course he is.' Usagi closed her eyes. 'We're destined for each other, and we're in love.' A slight frown graced her face as she said the first part, but it quickly vanished into a shine of light that could only come from true love.

Or so Naru assumed, having never seen it for herself.

'Are you okay?'

'Sure.' The head fell to the desk again with a soft tap. 'I'm just tired.'

Naru cocked her head slightly. 'You look…different, somehow. I feel like I haven't gotten a close look at you all year.'

'Hmm…we haven't had any real "girl talk" since graduation.'

'I tried calling.' It came out slightly accusatory, but luckily Usagi didn't pick up on it.

'Ah, I might have been ringing Mamo-chan.'

'Mamo-chan? Your boyfriend?'

'Hai. I was missing his voice…'

Naru didn't really know what to think; to think she had gotten so out of touch with her own best friend.

'We're having some "girl time" together,' she stated firmly. 'My place after school?'

Usagi thought for a moment, then agreed. 'If I forgot I have something planned…'

Naru really did laugh that time. That was the old Usagi. 'I'll rush you straight back. Don't worry.'

Usagi raised her head again and grinned, relaxing back into her chair. Naru grinned too; she supposed she really had been worrying about nothing.

'By the way Usagi-chan,' she recalled suddenly, rushing extracting something from her bookbag. 'This was on your desk yesterday during our elective.'

Usagi took the rose, blinking at it before sniffing.

'Who's it from? Your boyfriend?'

The blonde shook her head. 'No. It's from Seiya. I can smell her perfume.'

Naru blinked. Usagi received a rose from a boy after already having a boyfriend. Granted, she'd noticed the attraction between the Light and Usagi; it had been quite a hot topic, but as far as she'd heard, Usagi had never shown any particular interest back.

She should know, being Usagi's partner in crime as they hunted cute boys at the mall in their early teens. There had been not one account of a starry eyed Usagi.

But the girl comment made it even weirder. Why was Seiya giving a rose to Usagi scented with another girl's perfume.

'Her?'

'The person precious to him,' Usagi tilted her head up with a smile. 'To them. The three Lights. It's a goodbye rose.'

'You've really grown,' was all Naru could say.

'I have?' The blonde closed her eyes. 'Maybe I can stop growing for now then.'

'Usagi-chan…' She really had grown. Matured. And most importantly changed. It made her feel small in comparison. Left behind. But she pulled on her strong face; the one she used when Usagi failed one more test than her.

It was bound to happen sometime after all. Usagi achieving something more quickly than her. The last time had been…

Quickly, she squashed the thought of Gurio's crush on her.

'Tell me all about you and wonder-Light this afternoon,' she said, wagging a finger at the other. 'And about your boyfriend too-'

'Usako-chan?'

She stiffened as Usagi's homeroom teacher arrival was announced.

'I believe your homeroom is across the hall.'

'Hai Sensei.'

* * *

Mamoru was soon roused from his newspaper by an insistent knocking on his door. For a moment, he was tempted to let the disturber tire themselves out; very few people knew he had returned, and all of them were either at school or in America.

Unless it was the landlord, wondering why his apartment was suddenly in use again after a long absence…

And it was with that thought he opened the door –

And stared at his best friend's face, a rather unhealthy mix of anger, relief and elation. He only got a quick view however before a fist obscured it, his ceiling quite happily following.

'Konnichiwa,' he managed finally.

Motoki frowned at him, before offering a hand. 'Where have you been Mamoru?'

Despite the absence of playfulness in the tone or an honorific – or indeed a nickname – the dirty blond didn't sound particularly mad.

'Honestly, you don't call for months, and Usagi-chan was in tears the last time I saw here too…which, now that I think about it, was a good month ago.' His voice trailed off somewhat worriedly; the normally vibrant blonde had looked rather sad and lonely the last time he had seen her. And somehow, it was far more disturbing seeing the quiet suffering under the smiling mask than the childish teen in tears.

'She was…crying?' Mamoru accepted the other's hand and got to his feet.

'Not _crying_ per say –' the other began to explain, slipping his shoes off and entering the quaint apartment without waiting for an invitation; he'd done so on numerous occasions after all. 'She was definitely in a bad way; it seemed like you hadn't contacted her either.' The disapproval was clear in his tone.

'Moto-'

Motoki cut him off, quickly surveying the apartment. 'When did you get back anyway. Shouldn't you be in Chicago?'

'It…it's a long story.'

'I can see that. And I've got plenty of time.' He threw himself on the couch. 'Speaking of, why didn't you stop when I called you? You jogged right past me.'

The indignation was warmly familiar.

'I guess I was distracted,' Mamoru responded, a tad sheepishly. 'Things have been pretty crazy lately.'

'Yeah?' Motoki raised an eyebrow. 'Crazy in what way?'

Mamoru hesitated at that; he couldn't well explain all about Sailor Galaxia…could he? But then again, Motoki was his best friend, the guy he'd known since he'd been orphaned in that terrible car accident. Without the memories of his past and his family, Motoki had become the first friendly face within his life. He'd broken his leg at the time, and each day he'd hobble to his bed and simply talk. Even before a nurse had discovered him emerging from his coma, Motoki was there chatting away.

'You've got that look on your face,' Motoki commented. 'Like the truth's so hair-brained I won't believe it. Remember when you were having those dreams about a girl?'

He remembered. It was because of those that he discovered his identity as Tuxedo Kamen and met Sailor Moon…or Tsukino Usagi as her civilian identity was.

'This can't be much worse.'

'Oh, really?' Mamoru raised an eyebrow. He hadn't exactly told the whole story about that one.

'Any weirder than Usagi-chan being a princess in your dreams? Looking at how klutzy she used to be…but she sure has grown up.'

'It's…got to do with that.'

Motoki leaned back. 'Explain,' was all he said.

So Mamoru did. And hoped he didn't come off as a head-case. But perhaps he simply wasn't giving his friend enough credit, he mused to himself. It was just somewhat difficult to talk about such things with people other than the Sailor Senshi, Luna and Artemis…and Diana. Someone not so directly involved.

He found the term "normal" slipping into his mind, and to his surprise he wasn't immediately compelled to banish it. Because they weren't normal, in a sense. The Sailor Senshi. _Him_. Protectors of the Galaxy; young but old, having already fought a war that had gone on for eons.

That wasn't the life he'd imagined for himself for ten whole years.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: ** I wrote this chapter backwards, but surprisingly it worked. I blame my NaNo fic for the record. (if you're curious to see what it's like, it's posted on my fictionpress account).

Updates are back to once a month, but I'll try to backlog and then speed up for this one, seeing as the chapters are so short. It might take a few months though; I'm the sort of person who juggles a lot of things at once but manages to get most of them done, if not within the time limits I set for myself.

Enjoy.

* * *

_**The Night Sky**_

_Chapter 4_

Ikuko hummed as she dusted her daughter's bedroom. Like always it was in a harried state, screaming out Usagi's unique and sunny personality. She couldn't help but notice though it was distinctly less sunny over the past few months, but between one thing and the next she hadn't found the time to ask about it.

And then Usagi had been spending an awful lot of time in her room alone or out of the house doing goodness knows what. Her answer was normally "studying" or "hanging out with friends", and Ikuko was sure the former was being attacked with more vigour than in her daughter's junior high school years as the marks had climbed past fails and Ds…for the most part. Math was still atrocious, but the extra diligence managed to pull her marks in other subjects up to Cs and Bs.

Usagi had seemed pleased enough with her report before summer break, and had beamed at the praise she received from her teacher, but to her mother it hadn't appeared her heart was in it.

But her friends, while appearing a little tired and strained during the school times (and understandably as senior high was a different ball game to junior high school), their friendship had seemed its usual.

She was surprised though that she hadn't seen the handsome young boy in the photograph she was now dusting for a few months now.

Thoughtfully, she dabbed at the frame, smiling at the meeting between Chiba Mamoru, if she recalled the name correctly, and Kenji. It had been amusing to be sure, the way those two had interacted. Like a lovely couple with one half in denial. Usagi though had seemed to care for the other a lot, and unless her maternal instincts were off par (and they rarely ever were), Chiba-kun had been heads over heels for her Usagi too, and not simply for her looks like some other boys she knew.

Although it wouldn't have hurt, she reflected, if Gorou-kun's academic affluence had rubbed off onto her.

She finished with the portrait and straightened it up, before turning to dust the dressing top. After a sweep something clattered to the floor and she blinked, before bending down to pick up the article.

It was a ring around a chain. And not just any old imitation ring. It looked solid gold to her, 22 carat, and if she wasn't mistaken the one-stone design (pink, her Usagi's favourite colour), it was an engagement ring.

Her mind flailed. An engagement ring. On a chain. Her Usagi's engagement ring. How had she not known?

How had Usagi not told her? It was true they hadn't really had a heart to heart talk lately, but to keep _this_ away from her own parents..?

And getting _married_ at _sixteen_! It wasn't the nineteenth century anymore. She buried her face into her apron, before dropping the ring and its chain into a pocket and taking a deep breath. Perhaps it was a misunderstanding. Maybe Usagi had just found it lying somewhere, meant to take it to the police station and had simply gotten side-tracked.

'That's right,' she said aloud, returning to her dusting while Luna stretched on the bed and lifted her black head. 'Usagi's too young to marry. She hasn't even told us she's serious about someone yet.'

And she had been so sure Mamoru-kun would be the one too.

Luna scratched her head.

* * *

Mamoru's eyes had slipped closed at some stage or other, and he opened them at the end of his tale to find the couch opposite glaringly empty, a soft dent being all that remained of Motoki.

He assumed the other had left, before taking note of the clattering from his little kitchen.

'All you've got in here is coffee and some of those hard biscuits,' the dirty blond complained right at that moment. 'How do you expect to eat a decent meal? Have you even had breakfast?'

'I had coffee and biscuits,' Mamoru protested as the other stood, reading to drag him out the door.

Motoki gave him an exasperated look before grabbing the apartment keys. 'You call that a decent meal?' he asked. 'You haven't got an exam in ten minutes you know.'

The dark-haired male scratched his head. 'I suppose not,' he said sheepishly, surrendering himself.

A few minutes later he was seated at a booth in the coffee shop downtown with two slices of toast, a large muffin and a glass of orange juice.

He grimaced at the beverage. Motoki grinned at the face he made. 'That's what you get for not eating a proper breakfast straight off,' he scolded mockingly, enjoying the slice of strawberry shortcake he had in front of him. 'And if you eat fast enough, I might let you have some of this.' He speared a nibble on his fork and waved it in front of the other's face.

Mamoru scowled at him. 'You would choose strawberry shortcake as your desert,' he grumbled, taking a bite of toast.

'Well, of course.' The sandy-blond grinned. 'How else would it function as incentive?' Once the other had eaten a few more bites, he added: 'Now, about that story you just told me…'

'You don't believe it, right?' Mamoru said calmly.

'As I said, it's not too far off the whole "dreaming about your soul-mate",' his friend countered. 'Though I never thought you two were compatible as well as complete opposites validating the whole "opposites attract" thing.'

The dark haired male stared at the other for a long moment, toast dangling from one hand, before the other face-palmed his forehead. 'That's what registers?' he muttered.

'Not necessarily,' Motoki replied. 'I get the lot of you are always doing dangerous stuff, but to be honest it sounds like the girls have it a lot worse than you. All you do is throw roses.'

'And provide very useful distractions,' the other mumbled, slightly annoyed at the jibe. He was the Guardian of Earth, the holder of the Earth crystal, but all he could do was throw roses and wield a staff while his girlfriend, or fiancé, caused the damage. But she had the Silver Crystal of the Moon since their first true meeting, when each soul had been lain bare to the other and the majority of the memories of their past life returned, and he had only known of his own Golden Crystal when Pegasus had appeared to him.

The time between that incident and his departure from Japan and his defeat en route via Galaxia's hand was too short, cut even shorter by Nehellenia and her mirror.

Motoki balanced his chin on his palm, spearing another bite of cake. 'Finish your toast,' he mothered, popping the fork in his mouth.

Mamoru obediently took another bite; he was well used to his friend making sure he ate decent meals. He supposed it came from living on his own; he was certainly self-sufficient but apparently he lacked a little essential something to keep track of all manners of life on his own.

'Honestly, considering the amount of running around you do after the bad guys, you'll have to eat more than you –'

'Not at all,' Mamoru hurriedly said, feeling he had long since lost the conversation. To his credit he had finished one toast and had now begun on the other.'

'Seriously, how many times do I have to tell you to enjoy the muffin in between?'

'No thanks. I'd rather use it to wash down the orange juice.' Mamoru grimaced at the very thought.

'And stop _worrying.' _Motoki took another bite. 'Seriously, did you think I was going to admit you into the mental institution down-town?'

'The thought occurred to me,' the other kidded, making short work of the other toast upon seeing his friend devouring the treat.

The blond noticed that and laughed. 'When you marry Usagi-chan, she'll cook you all the strawberry shortcake in the world.'

'You mean she's learnt how?' That was news to him.

'That's what happens when you're out of the loop for months,' Motoki scolded, although with less vigour now that he knew the reason. 'So, when are you going to pop the question?'

'Ahh…' He blinked at that. It had been a severe failsight in his original plans; it would be rather awkward to tell Usagi three months later they were, at least in his mind, engaged by virtue of the ring he had slipped around her finger. 'Well, I gave her a ring, but…'

'You gave her a ring?' Motoki repeated, before a large grin spread across his face and he clapped the other on the back. 'Congrats, man.' He frowned a little later. 'You know, I don't recall seeing Usagi-chan wearing a ring…'

'Well,' the dark-haired male responded sheepishly. 'I didn't exactly tell her it was an engagement ring.'

'You didn't…' It was Motoki's turn to face-palm his forehead. 'You may be the King of the Earth, but you're a world-class idiot.'

'That's _future_ King,' was the best response Mamoru could come up with.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: ** This chapter would be a pain until the day _after_ I was supposed to be done with it. But I have plans for the next chapter so hopefully it'll go down smoother.

Enjoy.

* * *

**_The Night Sky_**

_Chapter 5_

Usagi spread herself out on Naru's bed, trying to ignore the unfamiliarity of it.

'Did you get a new bed Naru-chan?' she asked.

'No way,' the red haired girl replied, taking a seat on her desk chair. 'Just the mattress.'

'Mmm.' Usagi bounced her body a little. 'It's…kind of hard.'

'It's softer than my old mattress.' Naru frowned a little. 'That one had no padding left in it.'

'Really?' The blonde blinked, before wincing a little. Maybe it was because she was still a little sore and stiff.

'We haven't had gym yet this week.' Naru forced a grin on her face. 'Or did you join the running squad without telling me.'

'No way,' Usagi groaned. 'You know how much I hate to run.'

'You might have changed your mind.' The other's tone gave nothing away. 'Like Seiya-'

'Oh, Seiya-kun!' Usagi claimed, suddenly sitting up. 'I totally forgot; they're leaving tonight.'

'Leaving?' Naru repeated blankly.

'Yeah. The girls and I are going to see them off. And Mamo-chan too.'

'Mamoru-kun is back from America?'

'Actually…' Usagi scratched her head. 'That's a bit of a complicated story.'

'Oh?' Naru frowned slightly at her. 'You used to tell me everything last year.'

Usagi rolled over. 'My life wasn't this complicated last year,' she mumbled into the unfamiliar mattress.

The red-haired girl abandoned her chair and came to sit next to the other on her bed. 'You can still talk to me,' she coaxed. 'You know it helps to talk things out, especially when they don't know what's going on.'

'Yeah,' the blonde mumbled. 'But I don't even know where to start.'

'Start with that ring you were wearing up till yesterday,' Naru said, a little mischievously.

'Up till –' Usagi felt under her blouse, panicking slightly when she found the chain and its familiar weight absent. 'Oh no, I must have dropped it somewhere, or –' She shot off the bed and rummaged around in her bag.

'You didn't have it this morning,' Naru attempted to placate. 'Maybe you left it at home.'

'Maybe I did.' She hoped so anyway; it was almost as important as her brooch, pinned to its usual position. 'I hope so anyway.'

When silence descended upon them, Naru asked again: 'the ring?'

'Oh.' Usagi fiddled with her brooch. 'Mamo-chan gave it to me, before he left for America.'

'Ooh, that's so romantic,' her friend squealed.

'Why?' The blonde blinked. 'Mamo-chan has given me lots of presents.'

It was something she sometimes felt guilty about, little spurts where material value weighted upon her mind. After all, she was a high school student with a restricted allowance. Mamoru was a college student who worked part-time as well as receiving a more substantial allowance than hers from his scholarship. But then she would remember – or he would say – that she gave him something just as precious.

After all, they made each other happy. That was why they were in love, both in a different life and this.

Naru, surprisingly, laughed. 'Oh, Usagi-chan,' she chortled. 'He gave you a _ring_. Honestly, haven't you watched enough of those western movies?'

Usagi still didn't understand.

'Come on, didn't he propose to you?'

Now it made sense. 'Propose…as in marry?' she all but squeaked, before stuttering. 'And then – he disappeared – plane – ' She managed to stop herself from saying "Galaxia". She wasn't sure she was ready to explain that to Naru at that point.

'So he proposes to you and then vanishes off the face of the earth for a few months.' Naru shook her head. 'That's –'

'Not his fault.'

When the blonde didn't elaborate, Naru shrugged. 'Did you answer?'

Usagi shook her head; to her knowledge, Mamo-chan hadn't explicitly asked for her hand in marriage in this lifetime.

And, considering they would still be married a thousand years later, she wondered if she was even supposed to say "yes."

Naru watched her face. 'You should talk,' she said eventually. 'You two were serious, way more serious than Gorou-kun and me. It was written all over both your faces that you loved each other…but sixteen is pretty young to be engaged too.'

Usagi drew her knees up a little. 'What do you think?' she asked. In part, they were reminiscent of the previous year, talking about the cute boys they spied on downtown.

'About?' the red-haired girl asked, a little confused.

'Oh…I dunno.' She'd have to explain everything for Naru to understand. Thankfully, she wasn't currently pushing for an explanation.

'You feel you're destined to be with him forever?' her friend suggested.

'That's right.' It wasn't with the enthusiasm of discovering an answer to a long-unanswered question, but it was good enough. 'Something like that.'

Naru was silent for a moment after hearing that reply, before answering: 'I think you're very lucky…and unlucky.'

Usagi was, understandably, confused with the answer, and said as much.

'I mean you're lucky in that you get to spend much more time than most people with your soul-mate.' And this was said in full unawareness of Crystal Tokyo. 'But you're unlucky because the price for that'll probably be very heavy.'

* * *

Motoki never ceased to amaze him, Mamoru reflected as he made his way aimlessly down the street. The sandy blond had insisted on lunch before parting, and therefore the only thing pending was a little grocery shopping so he could make himself some dinner in a few hours. But that could wait, and since he was nearer to the grocery store than he was to his apartment, it was the perfect opportunity to just walk around and kill some time.

It would have also been the perfect opportunity to visit Usagi, if he hadn't bumped into Minako who informed him the other was at a friend's house for the afternoon. She was on a shopping spree it seemed – although she was alone and looked somewhat half-hearted in her cheer.

Mamoru shook his head. He supposed it was no wonder, after all the last couple of days had climaxed to. In all honesty, he was surprised that the Senshi had considered going to school following all that. For all the battles that they had fought, they had never come so close to death and destruction. Not even when Nehelennia had pitched Chibiusa from a height that would have killed anyone. Not even when Usagi's dream mirror had broken and her eyes had become nothing but empty pools. Not even when Zoisite attacked his back and injured him so gravely that his soul had been left wide open to evil.

He shook his head again, looking up to the bright sky and the sun. It was all over, and there was no need to make himself miserable over it. Of course, it was easier for him to say, having been a glittering star in Galaxia's hands for most of the events. Things had been at peace for so long to be only briefly interrupted, it felt like he had simply slipped into a slightly more chaotic time. For he still had some matters to clear up, and undoubtedly more questions to answer about his whereabouts since stepping onto a plane and never disembarking from it.

The amnesia story was a good one though; he should stick with it. Got rid of a lot of unnecessary complications, and it wasn't exactly a story that could be refuted, as he was only partially obscuring the truth. He did know what had happened, but only had memories minutes beyond what he claimed.

He was so busy thinking he almost crashed into someone.

A moment later, he realised it wouldn't have made a difference as to whether he had caught himself or not, for the woman had been carrying more bags than she could handle and had dropped them just shy of his next step.

'Oh, I'm sorry,' she said, hurriedly collecting the apples that rolled out of a bag. 'That was terribly clumsy of me.'

'Not at all,' Mamoru reassured. 'Anyone would have trouble with so many groceries.' He collected a few bags, letting the other take the rest. 'Would you like me to help you?'

'Oh, that would be wonderful.'

Mamoru straightened, finally getting a good look at the woman, then blinked. Usagi's mother.

'Oh, you're Usagi's…friend.' There was a brief moment's hesitation. 'I hope this won't be inconveniencing you…'

'Not at all.' He paused. 'Actually, there was something I needed to talk to you and your husband about, Tsukino-san.'


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: ** Ookay, this wound up a little sappy. But the heart-to-heart needed to come in somewhere.

Enjoy.

* * *

**_The Night Sky_**

_Chapter 6_

Usagi left Naru's house a little past six; the girl had gotten sufficiently distracted over the conversation circling her missing ring and they'd lapsed into casual conversation thereafter. She felt rather relaxed after hanging out with someone not connected with the fate of the world, and noted with a bit of guilt that she really had been letting their precious friendship slide away.

For someone who'd be alive to see two Milleniums, there certainly were periods where she didn't seem to have _enough_ time. Like when she'd shot off of Naru's bed remembering she was supposed to fetch a few things for Chibiusa. She'd been halfway to the store before realising her future daughter was back in her own time and the only place she was expected in the _near_ future was her home for dinner.

Which she was at least an hour too early for. Two if her father was working late.

She passed a sale on at a clothes store. She considered entering and looking for a new shirt; she needed one anyway, but ultimately decided against it. Minako was the best person to shop for clothes with, and with her luck, Usagi would get buttons and zippers caught in her hair and make an embarrassment of herself with no-one else around.

Besides, the bed in her room was looking more comfortable with the soft wind battering her.

–

'I'm home,' Usagi called, toeing off her shoes at thee door before blinking at a pair she recognised at Mamoru's.

'Welcome back,' her mother replied from the kitchen.

There was a bit of clattering, and then Mamoru himself poked his head into the hallway. 'Hello Usa-ko.'

'Hello,' Usagi responded, blinking. 'Did you come here to surprise me?'

'No, I bumped into your mother doing the shopping,' Mamoru responded sheepishly. After a brief moment's silence to which the blonde simply nodded a little vaguely, he found himself thinking of months ago when Usagi would have pulled a face that melted all resolve while whining that he hadn't come out of his way to visit. 'But there was something I wanted to talk to you about.'

'Uh-huh.' Usagi nodded, Naru's voice filling her head again. 'Actually, there's something I need to talk to you about too.'

Ikuko chose that moment to make her entrance. 'Why don't you two lovebirds go up to Usagi's room then?' she suggested, hiding a smile while waiting for the tell-tale blush. She'd seen plenty of those until about a year ago, when Usagi seemed to hit her mental growth spurt. Now she wondered if it was the meeting with the handsome and polished young man that did.

And how they departed – sadly, without the blush…but then again, she didn't have her camera handy either – up to Usagi's room suggested they were perfectly comfortable together.

In all honesty, that worried her. Just a tad. Usagi was her daughter after all, and while she had no reason to mistrust her judgement (so far as people went in any case; _things_ were another matter altogether), it was slightly concerning how she'd missed the transition between a crush and something serious.

The weight of the ring, still on its chain, was heavy in her pocket.

'Leave the door open!' she called up the stairs.

–

Luna greeted them before slinking downstairs. No further words needed to be exchanged for her to know she would be in the way of the future King and Queen if she stayed.

Usagi made to close the door after her before remembering her mother's instructions and left it half-slanted. Enough for four Lunas to squeeze through if they wanted…and even Shinji if he wished to risk his elder sister's wrath. Still, it blocked out the harshest of the afternoon sun creeping up the stairs – one of the advantages of having a window that faced the morning.

Of course, it's main purpose of waking her bright and early normally failed.

'It's funny,' Mamoru said thoughtfully. 'We've known each other for ages now, and this is the first time I've been in your room alone.'

He looked around; it was exactly as he remembered it.

'You're right,' Usagi replied, looking around herself. 'We're normally at your apartment, or the girls are over as well.' She paused. 'I don't seem to remember ever introducing you properly to my parents, now that I think about it.'

'No, I don't think so,' Mamoru agreed. 'But I think your mother knows in any case.'

'It makes me wonder…' Usagi fiddled with the catch to her window, opening it a little slower than she normally would. 'If they know about Sailor Moon…and Chibiusa and Chibichibi…'

Mamoru took a seat on the bed and looked at his de facto fiancé. 'Why do you think that?' he asked.

'I don't,' Usagi confessed. 'Actually, it was just that I talked to Naru-chan – really talked, you know – after so long. We were inseparable up till last year, but now we've drifted apart and I can't help but wonder what other relationships suffered in me being a Sailor Soldier.' She took a seat on the bed, leaning her head on her boyfriend's shoulder and letting her long hair tumbled behind her. 'But Shinji's crazy about Sailor Moon…and yet he can't stand his bratty older sister.' She chuckled into her shoulder. 'Go figure.'

'Makes me wonder how he feels about Tuxedo Kamen,' Mamoru teased gently.

'Oh, he thinks you're cool enough,' Usagi prodded back with a small grin. 'Always riding into danger for the girl you love. He's not too impressed with how Sailor Moon always winds up bailing you out though.'

'It's hardly my fault,' the other countered in a faux injured tone. 'Roses are delicate things; they simply prefer to dig their roots and ward off the dangers closest to them.'

'Hmmph, sounds like your roses are a little selfish.'

'Well, you can't blame them for wanting some peace.' Mamoru shrugged, then looked closely at his companion. 'Is something bothering you, Usa-ko?' You've been very quiet today.'

'Not particularly,' the other responded, fiddling with her sneakers. 'Do I look different?'

'Well…you've tanned a bit…' Mamoru shook his head. 'I'm sorry; those months really felt like a blink of an eye.'

'Mmm-hmm.' Usagi closed her eyes. 'It's weird; everything's over now. This morning, I felt like I had all the time in the world, but it's all slipping away again.'

'I know what you mean,' Mamoru replied. 'Motoki visited around breakfast time, and we talked all the way till lunch.'

Usagi sighed. 'Mamo-chan?'

'Yes?'

'Do you ever think of Crystal Tokyo beyond Chibiusa?'

Mamoru blinked. 'What do you mean?'

'I mean us living that long,' Usagi clarified. 'The girls will still be there, and Luna and Artemis; you and I will still be in love, but everything else will be so different. Sometimes I wonder if 'kaa-san would ever know she had a granddaughter; Chibiusa's future is so far away from our own time. So what happens to the other friends we have here? What happens to…' Her voice trailed off, but Mamoru knew what she meant to say. For him, he had no family other than Usagi, but Usagi had her parents and little brother in this life. And while Makato's circumstances weren't too far from his own, and as far as he knew Hotaru was orphaned as well and Michiru and Haruka were estranged, the other girls had families they'd miss as well…although Rei's was a little unconventional.

'I see what you mean,' he said aloud. 'I can't imagine Motoki disappearing from my life a few years down the track.' He twirled a lock of yellow hair. 'But that's all the more reason to enjoy our time with them now –'

He broke off as he felt tears on his free hand.

'Usa-ko?'

She laughed. 'I guess I'm still a crybaby,' she confessed. 'But yesterday…' Her voice trailed off. 'I felt so alone, after Chaos was sealed and Galaxia was freed and had gone with the Star Seeds to guide them.' She buried her face into the chest offered. 'All of you were gone – and I thought –'

Mamoru couldn't help but smile. 'Silly Usa-ko,' he said softly, his breath tickling the sensitive skin of her ear. 'Even if we're not beside you physically, we'll always be in your heart.'

'But you're always teasing me about having a big heart,' the girl whined. 'You could get lost in there!'

They both burst into laughter at that, collapsing backwards onto the bed.

'Mamo-chan?'

'Yes?'

'Do you love me?'

Mamoru smiled slightly at their little tradition.

'I love you,' he replied.

'More than anything?'

'More than anything in the world.'

Usagi snuggled closer to her love, his warmth spreading from her heart to the tips of her toes. 'Enough to spend more than a thousand years with me?'

'Enough to spend a lifetime with you,' was the reply. 'I can't look that long into the future though, and it's probably not a good idea to.'

'Yeah…things wouldn't have any meaning, would they? If they were pre-determined.'

'But we're different people than we were on the Moon,' Mamoru pointed out. 'And the future King and Queen of Crystal Tokyo looked and sounded like different people again. So I think I can honestly say that even if we hadn't been married in a past life and won't be married in the future, I'd still ask you to marry me.'

Usagi shifted on his chest; he supported her and sat up, looking her in the eyes.

'Marry me?' Usagi repeated, her hand coming up to her throat, before coming away. 'Oh no, I forgot –'

Mamoru blinked as the blonde suddenly scrambled off the bed, disappearing under the pink lace. 'What are you looking for?'

'Your ring!' she cried. 'Oh, I know I took it out to shower this morning. I hope I just forgot to put it on.'

'Wouldn't it make more sense to look on the dressing table?' Mamoru wondered aloud, before ignoring the thought. Usagi was Usagi after all. Even in the middle of a serious conversation – or an overdue proposal – she could find a way to lighten the mood…even if she didn't mean to.

Although striking the conversation up would be a little harder.

'Usagi –'

They both jumped at the shrill phone, and Usagi squealed as she banged her head.

'Stupid phone,' she grumbled, worming her way out from under the bed and reaching for the receiver on her handstand. 'Moshi moshi…oh, Seiya-kun.'

Mamoru couldn't help but feel irritated.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: ** Okay, I finally figured out how to end the story. And sadly, I'm nowhere near a mother's level.

Enjoy.

* * *

**_The Night Sky_**

_Chapter 7_

Usagi's chat with Seiya was short and brief.

'The Starlights are leaving tonight,' she explained. 'The girls will be at the roof of the school to say goodbye at midnight.' She paused. 'Do you want to come along? I mean, you guys don't really know each other, but I told Seiya-kun quite a bit about you, so…'

'I'll come,' Mamoru said, a little too quickly.

'He…also wants to talk to me now,' she continued. 'He'll be here in about five minutes.'

'Oh,' Mamoru said after a brief silence. He still didn't know the details about what he had missed – and likely would never get the true, unbiased picture – but he had seen the way Star Fighter had looked at his Usako's retreating back as they had all parted ways the previous night. And to be honest, he didn't like.

To be perfectly honest, he felt a little jealous, but Usagi had been looking elsewhere.

'You two would have gotten along great,' she continued, twirling a lock of hair. 'He really reminded me of you, you know?' She tilted her head a little to the side and Mamoru leaned a tad closer to her beckoning, enough for her to be able to rest her fringe on the tip of his jacket.

'How so?' Mamoru asked.

'Oh, you know.' She laughed. 'He's sweet and handsome and the sort of guy any girl could want, except he's not you.' She snuggled closer. 'He's a good friend though.'

'I see.' It was a relief, but also a mark of how much his Usako had grown in his absence. 'I'm glad you met him them.'

'Hmm, me too, although I could have done without the karaoke. It was a little loud.'

Karoake was something they had never done together. In all honesty, with Usagi's clumsy dancing and high pitched singing, it hadn't seemed like something she could relax and enjoy. And it seemed he was partially right.

'I suppose it was alright?' he hedged.

'Alright,' Usagi agreed. 'Seiya really enjoyed himself, and you know how, when you're with someone, you can't help but sucked into something you probably wouldn't enjoy on your own.'

He knew. It happened all the time when he went shopping with the girls.

'It was a shame Sailor Iron Mouse came though.' She closed her eyes. 'She worked for Galaxia, trying to find the star seeds.' A small tremor ran through her body at the memory of all those fights and all the relationships that had been broken and built. 'Galaxia took her bracelets, and then there was Sailor Aluminium Siren and Sailor Lead Crow and Sailor Tin Nyanko –'

Mamoru silenced her with a soft finger on her lips. 'Hush Usako,' he said quietly. 'You're going too fast for me. I know only that the woman with the golden armour took my star seed on the way to America, and you somehow restored the hope of mankind and this world. Between that is much I don't understand, though I feel it foreshadows something far greater, and something in both our past and our future.'

'The Sailor Wars,' a new voice said in reply, and the couple looked towards the open door and Seiya leaning in the doorframe. 'I apologize,' he added, 'but your mother sent me up and the door was open.'

Mamoru stood up. 'I'll leave you two alone then.'

'Ah, Mamo-chan –' She stopped herself, looking between the two.

'I won't be long,' Seiya promised, staying outside the threshold. 'How about we walk around the block?'

The sentiment was more towards Mamoru and Usagi's parents, however Usagi had no problems with the arrangement.

* * *

Mamoru was surprised that Usagi's room, in her absence, had much the same feeling to it. The smell of roses was soft but recognisable, a single red stalk held by a small figurine he had once giving Chibiusa giving off the scent. She must have given it to Usagi at some point, or else simply forgotten to take it back to the future with her.

Suddenly, he missed Chibiusa, how she used to cling to his right arm, much like Usagi would cling to his left. How they would stick their tongues out at each other and argue to exasperation. How it felt to make her pancakes for breakfast…because he really didn't want to think what Usagi's parents would say if she was at his apartment at eight in the morning. Earlier when she had school, or he had university. Or both.

Which reminded him; that was something he had totally forgotten to mention to Usagi. In retrospect it was probably more important than the past, but somehow their conversation had back-slid on the currents of time. At the time it had felt more natural too; he was filling the gaps in his information and she was reflecting on things that had began and ended too quickly, but they had begun with an uncertainty with the future.

An uncertainty that was still yet to be resolved. Which brought him back to the reason he had come to begin with.

At that moment, Ikuko poked her head through the doorway. 'Forgive my intrusion,' she said kindly. 'But you looked as though you wanted to speak to me earlier. I'm all ears if you still want to.'

'Actually,' Mamoru admitted. 'I wanted to speak to both your husband and yourself, if that's okay.'

'Certainly.' She looked surprised, but not as much as he expected. 'Come into the living room.'

He followed her.

* * *

Usagi fiddled with the non-existent chain around her neck, wondering once again where the jewellery and the ring it held had disappeared to.

Now that she knew it was absent, the lack of familiar weight was strikingly obvious.

'I'm sorry,' Seiya said suddenly, stopping in front of her.

'Huh?' she said illegibly.

'I…I guess this is a little awkward for you.' He sighed, shaking his head. 'I guess I just wanted to know…if you were happy.'

The blonde noticed that the other's voice sounded different, lacking the strong confidence it almost always held. In a way it was reminiscent to the Starlights that had fallen at the feet of Uranus and Neptune, and the ultimate Shadow Galactica.

'I'm happy,' she replied anyway. 'I don't know what I'm doing anymore, but I am happy.'

'That's alright then.' Seiya stopped walking. 'You'll find your path right under your feet; I'm sure of it.' He paused. 'It's the future, isn't it?'

'It's daunting,' the blonde admitted. 'Crystal Tokyo, Chibiusa…it's so far away. A lot could happen between then.'

'If you're happy,' the Starlight said, 'does it matter? You spent the better part of a year waiting for Chiba-kun.'

Usagi fidgeted with the now absent ring around her neck. 'I could have waited forever for him,' she said softly, and it almost felt that long. An eternity of searching, of chasing, of waiting…

Seiya suddenly turned around and embraced her. Usagi gasped a little, but soon enough settled into the embrace.

'Usako…'

Only Mamoru called her that…

'I know being with Mamoru makes you happy, and I know he'll always make you happy.' _No matter how much he hurts you too… _but he didn't say that out loud. It would change nothing. It would only confuse things; Usagi was at the border between adolescence and adulthood. She knew it all, in her heart. She just needed to be told.

'If you ever need me,' he said finally. 'I'm only a star away.'

Usagi nodded, this time touching her brooch. 'We're only a planet away,' she replied. 'Seiya…'

He had almost left, but he turned back to her. She smiled suddenly and waved at him. 'You've got a nice smile; make sure you keep on using it!'

Seiya couldn't help but chuckle. Many a girl had said that to him, but only one of them was as special as this one.

* * *

Mamoru had never really talked with Usagi's parents, but now he was regretting that decision for lack of a mothering figure in his life. If only he'd had such an opportunity before, perhaps then he wouldn't have wasted years of college, drifting from course to course and eventually to country. While the Senshi, and Usagi especially, were amazing in every sense of the word, and Motoki as well, it wasn't the same as having someone who had all the answers, even when one had long since passed their childhood years.

'You're both at the stage where you're confused about your future but that's no reason to rush into things,' Ikuko was saying, sipping her tea. 'Usagi told me you left to study for America.'

'I did,' Mamoru confessed. 'It…something happened, and I wound up back in Japan.'

'Will you leave again then?' she asked.

'I – I honestly don't know,' he confessed. 'To be honest, I don't know where I'm going with my degree.'

'It is a difficult choice,' Ikuko agreed. 'But you proposed to my daughter and then left her for three months.'

'That wasn't my intention,' Mamoru hurriedly said. 'It's just – circumstances –'

'I think,' the woman said, ignoring him. 'That if you could have contacted Usagi to let her know you were safe, you would have.' She looked carefully at him. 'But then it makes me think, are you going to put my daughter in danger?'

He would have said "never", but he was well aware of the dangers the Senshi regularly based, and it would be nothing more than an empty and faithless promise. 'I do my best to protect her,' he said instead.

'You're a man of honesty,' Ikuko said approvingly, leaning back and taking another sip of tea. 'And honour. I know you'll take good care of her.'

Mamoru blinked; Ikuko seemed to accept him a little too easily.

She laughed at his expression. 'Really now,' she said. 'Just because Usagi never saw it fit to inform me you two were dating, it doesn't mean my intuition does the same. And I certainly saw you hanging around here enough.' Then her tone turned more sombre. 'Marriage on the other hand…you understand that sixteen is awfully young, and I don't believe Usagi is ready for it.'

'Nor am I,' Mamoru said honestly. 'I just want her to know I want us to always be together, no matter how far apart our bodies may be. I just want something tying us together.' He looked at the chain and ring she had in her lap, the one she had picked off Usagi's cabinet earlier that very same day. 'I didn't even realise what I had done until I was on the train and it was too late…'

'I don't think Usagi realised either,' Ikuko confessed. 'Until perhaps recently. I think the two of you should confirm things with each other.' She spied Usagi going back upstairs. 'We both know Usagi very well, but in the end she is her own person.'

He could have listed all the qualities that made her such, but chose instead to keep them close to his heart. Ikuko was Usagi's mother after all, not his own.

'Come visit more often,' Ikuko said, the same time the thought crossed his mind. 'If you are going to marry my daughter in the future, you'll need to get around this family.'

A family…maybe it was that longing that brought the confusion to the surface. After all, he had sat out on the battle with the Shadow Galactica, so he didn't have the excuse of the rest of the Senshi. Nor was he at that age where adolescence bled into adulthood.

But his parents couldn't guide him. So he had needed to wait a little longer instead, to hear what he knew but couldn't put into words he could comprehend.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: ** Lol, Minako got a little carried away in this chapter. She also wound up not letting the Starlights or Shingo in, so I had to add an extra chapter for them.

Enjoy.

* * *

**_The Night Sky_**

_Chapter 8_

Usagi lay down on her bed for a moment, door half open so she would be able to hear if someone came upstairs. She didn't think they would, Mamoru looked quite relaxed in her mother's presence – and that was a relief. That meant she approved of him. In fact, from what little she had seen, she was almost mothering him, and Mamoru looked quite happy at that, lacking a mother figure for most of his life.

She had no desire to interrupt that, and she had a bit of thinking to do as it was.

Her long hair tumbled around her, and after a moment she got up to undo the buns before laying down again. Often, she would lay with her hair bound, even through the night, but there were times she wished to simply lie flat on her back, and at those moments the buns would come off. They kept her head up; in a way, they were a symbol of her. Something only she, her birthmother from the moon, and her future daughter once grown, shared.

Her thoughts led thoroughly astray, she closed her eyes with the picture of Queen Serenity and Chibiusa…and herself and Mamoru in her mind. The past, the present and the future…and yet, somehow they were all right there, right now.

Maybe she had just been thinking too much. She normally didn't; she was the spontaneous sort, messing up as often as she did something right but working it all out in the end. Maybe because it seemed she always had a dozen things to do. Go shopping with Naru, and later Minako. Playing games at the arcade. Boyfriend hunting with Makoto. Cramming at the last minute for any test with Ami's help. Bantering with Rei. Hanging out with Mamoru. Listening to Michiru's music, or watching Haruka race. And, of course, saving the world.

She didn't think that Galaxia was the end though; it couldn't be. Trouble had come to them from the future. Chibiusa had become a Senshi, taking up the sceptre of Sailor Moon while her future self was occupied with more political matters. Chibiusa had told them an awful lot…but at the same time, nothing at all.

She laughed. That was just like her, bugging her teenage mother to no end even when she was back in the future where she belonged. Years and years in the future.

'You've been overthinking things Usagi,' she told herself out loud, before considering her statement. 'Maybe I should head to the arcade. Or the mall.'

She scrapped the second idea; she didn't have a whole lot of spending money and it really wasn't the season for sales. Still, the arcade sounded like a good idea. Playing mindless fighting games and getting beat up or crashing into every other wall in a racing kart.

Maybe she'd give Minako a ring too. They always had fun crashing together. Haruka on the other hand always left them behind in the dust. Quite literally too.

* * *

Usagi had poked her head into the living room and announced she was going to the arcade for a while with Minako. Mamoru was understandably surprised, but realised that with him occupying her mother, there was little reason for her to hang around.

He felt rather awkward and quickly stood, but got a double scolding from mother and daughter and meekly sat down. That left Ikuko finding herself a little too amused with the situation.

'My, you're already a part of the family,' she laughed. 'I see Usagi has you wrapped around her little finger.'

'Uhh…well…that…' Mamoru spluttered, his pride a little sore from the jibe to his manliness, but knowing there was some truth in that. 'We have our disagreements,' he managed at the end, and somewhat poorly.

But Ikuko understood what he meant. 'Now, how's your cooking?' she asked, standing up suddenly. 'Shingo will be home soon with a few of their friends, and they'll be wanting a snack.'

* * *

The first few times Usagi failed to make it past the starting line, but once she got going the two of them crashed into each other quite merrily. Motoki saw them and shook his head with a smile, but simply waved and passed by to address another customer. If the two girls noticed his subtle avoidance of them, they said nothing.

Half an hour later, they were bent over their chairs in laughter as they finally broke their record.

'I needed that,' Usagi choked. 'Oh God, I can't believe we were so bad.'

'Speak for yourself.' Minako tried to toss her hair back, but she was bent too forward for it to make much of an impression. Instead, she wound up with the ends in her mouth. 'Yuck.'

Usagi's hair, back into their usual dumplings, swung merrily as she reached for the controls agaon.

'Hey!' Minako protested, getting back into position. 'No fair! I wasn't ready yet!

* * *

'You're quite a natural at this,' Ikuko commented, watching who she was pretty sure would one day become her son-in-law mix the cookie batter. 'I didn't even have to tell you how much sugar to put in. Usagi on the other hand would put salt in half the time.'

Mamoru remembered the extremely salty cookies she had brought for him on Valentines Day. He had eaten every single one, even if he had been terribly thirsty for the rest of the day.

'What matters is the thought she puts into them,' he said thoughtfully, sticking his finger in at tasting it. After a nod, he set it aside as he reached for a baking tray.

'I take it you've tasted her cookies then, though I've showed her so many times where I keep the sugar.' Ikuko shook her head. 'Sometimes I think she does it on purpose, but it's a little hard to tell with her sometimes.'

'I think thoughts are more likely to become bitter when to think too long on them.' Mamoru carefully spread oil on the tray. 'Maybe the more valuable things are when you do your best without trying too hard. Usagi is intelligent, but a thinker isn't who she is. She's spontaneous, and that's what gives her life.'

Ikuko had stopped her own stirring and was now looking at him.

'That's an interesting way to put it,' she consented finally. 'Yes, she is spontaneous, and she manages to get in the right place eventually. But for the last few months, she's been…mellow.'

'Motoki-kun told me.' There was still a hint of guilt in his voice still, even though he knew his lack of communication with her had been unavoidable. 'I wasn't able to talk to her.'

'She missed you,' came the reply: half certain, half asking for confirmation. 'Was it worth leaving?'

Who knew? He didn't, having never made it to America. He hadn't even made it to the transit lounge. Did he regret making that decision? Maybe, but he didn't think he could know until he finished it.

'I don't know,' he said finally. 'Maybe, but I don't think I know. Maybe because I don't really know where I'm going. It sounded like a good opportunity, but the moment I got on the plane, it felt like I wasn't ready for it. But I'm definitely not ready to go back. Not now anyway. Maybe in a few years.'

He was surprised to find he was absolutely certain of that.

* * *

Usagi smiled, laying back. Her fingers were a little sore, as they always were when she went for the controls with her usual vigour. Naturally, it wasn't what won games, but she always enjoyed it more, and it was the perfect way to get any overbearing emotion out of her. Minako too was a little flushed, flexing her legs.

'Urgh,' she groaned. 'We really need to stop getting so into this. You'd think we're racing for real.'

'And crashing?' Usagi asked.

'Well…no –' She broke off. 'Hey, who's that guy?'

Usagi looked over, seeing why he had attracted the other blonde's attention. 'No idea,' she said. 'Maybe Rei-chan would know. Or Makoto-chan.'

Minako rolled her eyes. 'And ask and lose my dibs on him?' she countered. 'Even Ami-chan's getting interested in boys now.' But she stayed in her seat.

'You're not going to talk to him?' Usagi didn't move either. 'I'm taken after all, but you're free.'

'True…' she hedged. 'But I don't think I've really got time for a relationship, you know.' She pushed her fringe back. 'I've decided to go back to auditioning.'

'You have?' Usagi said, surprised. 'Where at?'

'Oh, there's a new boutique at the mall,' Minako replied, having not really expected the question – though she should have, she thought wryly in retrospect. 'It's more focused on modelling than acting, but it's still a good opportunity. I realised during this latest battle that life could be so short.' She sighed a little, closing her eyes. 'I mean, we died Usagi-chan. Galaxia killed us. I thought afterwards of all the things I wanted to do; it doesn't matter whether I haven't got the time or not, because they're still things I want to do. And if I grow out of it or get tired…well, that's in the future, you know? It's not here and now, and that's the main thing I guess.'

'I guess,' Usagi said, a little uncertainly. 'We can't rely on our knowledge of Crystal Tokyo to trust we'll be alive 300 years in the future, can we? Setsuna-chan says the future can be changed, and we've seen proof of that.'

She remembered how Chibiusa had disappeared during Nehellenia's assault, when Mamoru had been under her spell and she having lost all her allies to the mirrors. She remembered how desperate she had been when Nehellenia had tossed Chibiusa from the sky, hoping she would fall to her death on the earth below.

'Still, I can't do everything,' Usagi continued. 'It wouldn't feel right, and I'm not ready anyway. I'd like to travel around, but right now, I just want to stay at home. I want to marry Mamo-chan, but I don't think I'm ready for that either. Not right now. I feel like I still need to grow up first and stop being such a…crybaby.' She sniffed a little, rubbing the forming tears away quickly. Maybe it was because she was relaxed now; maybe she had simply been wound up too tightly, thinking about everything.

'Did he – ?' She broke off, realising Usagi was no longer wearing the ring around her neck. 'Where's the ring Mamoru-kun gave you?'

'Oh.' She had forgotten about that when Seiya had called. 'I think I left it in my room before school today.' A finger reached up to gently touch the place it usually sat, then the locket which she still wore. 'I don't know how I keep missing it; it feels weird without it around my neck.' She shook her head a little, before adding: 'Minako-chan?'

'Yes?'

'Did you know…what it was for?' At the blank stare, she added: 'the ring I mean. Did you know why Mamo-chan had given it to me.'

'Well…yes.' Minako was a little taken aback. 'We all did. Assumed really, though it was obvious you two were meant to be together.'

'Mmm.' Usagi tilted her head back, letting her hair tumble behind her. 'I think I'm going to say no.'

'What?!' Minako jumped off her seat. 'Why?'

'I'm not ready,' came the simple reply. 'I thought I wasn't, but now I know I'm not. Marrying means being an adult, but Minako-chan, I'm still just a kid who wants to play video games and cries when something bad happens and always puts salt into food instead of sugar for petty reasons. And I want it to stay like that for a little longer, even if things are changing in the world, and between people.'

'Usagi-chan…' Minako shook her head, and then smiled. 'You're a braver woman than I. I think I might have said yes in the fear my dream-guy would only ask once. But if you're not ready and you can admit that, then you're not ready, although…' She lowered her voice. 'I think you've grown up a lot these past few months.'

Usagi grinned at her. 'Think I can manage the skating ring?'

Minako gasped in horror. 'Never! I don't even know how you can dance!'

'I'm not _that_ clumsy.'


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: ** Okay, just the epilogue now.

Enjoy.

* * *

_**The Night Sky**_

_Chapter 9_

They were on their way back from the arcade when they saw a car come off the bridge. And they weren't the only ones; many a pedestrian had stopped and stared. Some were whispering anxiously. A few had phones already by their ear. Some were screaming. Several mothers were covering their children's eyes.

Usagi's hand clutched her locket. Minako looked at her, and they both nodded and hurriedly darted for cover.

'Venus Crystal Power! Make-up!'

'Moon Eternal Power! Make-up!'

'Venus Love Me Chain!' Venus cried, flipping her attack up and through the bridge before wrapping it around the falling car. The weight pulled her right up to the railing, but the foresight in securing her chain make sure, at least, the car wouldn't smash into the ground.

Still, if it didn't slow down, her chain would rip right through.

'Now Sailor Moon!'

Usagi had her tiara ready. 'Moon Tiara Magic!' she cried, spinning it and sending it forth. She didn't aim for the car, but rather sent its course under it. The formed disk had after all a lot of inherent power, and all the studying the others (mostly Ami) made her do had paid off in more than just the entrance exam.

The energy wasn't strong enough to stop the car in mid-air, but it slowed down enough for Minako to be able to lower it down safely. Still, it took a little more energy than they had managed to collect past Galaxia's defeat, so once they regrouped and took the thanks of the family inside, they were rather tired.

* * *

Sailor Venus shook her head and laughed. 'Now it's a duo of Sailor V,' she commented, remembering her days as a lone scout. 'I suppose there's still a job for us Senshi to do after all, even if the Sailor Wars have finished.'

'Yeah, I guess so.' And Sailor Moon grinned. 'You know, part of me thought I'd never be in this form again.'

She paused, fitting the tiara back into her hair. 'I think I'm going to tell my parents,' she said suddenly. 'They deserve to know, and I don't like keeping secrets from them.'

And one day, she could tell Naru too.

'Okay then.' Minako looked around; people were still milling about, although the two girls were in a quieter corner. 'I'm heading home then. Artemis and Luna are probably back from their date.'

'They're staying with you?' Usagi asked, surprised. Luna hadn't informed her.

'Nah.' Venus grinned cheekily. 'I think it's more Luna spotted you and Mamoru-kun.'

'Doing what?' Usagi asked innocently.

Minako shook her head. Sometimes Usagi was seriously dense. 'Never mind.'

* * *

'I'm home,' Usagi, still in her Senshi form, called as she unlocked the front door.

'Welcome back Usagi,' her mother said from the kitchen. 'You just missed your frie –'

She stopped short, staring at the teenager who stood on the front mat. 'S-sailor Moon?' she gaped, looking at the sailor fuku outfit, the tiara, the wings – and the familiar face she had often failed to regonise.

Shingo poked his head around the door of the living room, having heard his mother. 'What - ?' he began eagerly, before staring at his sister.

'Hey Shingo,' Usagi said, deciding it wasn't really the time to be teasing her little brother. 'Well, I figured it was time my family knew the truth.'

Ikuko shook her head as though water was stuck in it. 'You're –' she began, before shaking her head again. 'I never realised, though I really should have known.' She sounded in awe, and proud.

Shingo had the opposite reaction. 'You can't be,' he cried. 'Sailor Moon's cool – and a hero – and – and – ' The last bit came out almost explosively. 'She's not a crybaby like you!'

'Shingo,' his mother scolded, but Shingo was gone, upstairs to his room.

Ikuko sighed. 'Don't mind him,' she said, noting her daughter's frown. 'You gave us quite a shock, and I'm sure he'll come around. He loves both his sister and Sailor Moon after all.'

'I suppose I just shattered his mental image,' Usagi said, reverting her transformation now that her mother and brother had seen. Her father wouldn't be home for a while yet, so she would have to wait to tell him.

Or perhaps her mother would. Part of her mind was amused at how her brother's reaction mimicked her own in regards to Tuxedo Kamen's unmasking.

'Perhaps you should explain everything,' Ikuko said, as they stood awkwardly in the hall. 'I'm sure there must be some reason you chose to reveal this now.'

'Well,' Usagi rubbed the back of her hair. 'It's a very long story, starting with Luna…'

'That stray cat you found last year?'

'Yep. And well, you see…she can talk.'

'She can what?'

It was certainly going to be a long story.

* * *

'So, all this time…' Ikuko shook his head. 'You know, most mothers don't like their daughters leaving home, but still I never imagined something like this even though I've always known your heart's bigger than any other person I know.'

Usagi leaned into her mother's warm embrace. 'It was pretty crazy,' she admitted. 'But now I can't imagine anything else. You wouldn't believe how it felt thinking I might never get to save people again…although I could do without all the fighting evil stuff.'

'I can see why,' her mother chuckled, eyes a little watery. 'But to think you've been putting yourself in danger all this time, and we had no idea. And the people you've saved…including us more than once…'

It seemed some of her own memories had come back in the process of the tale. Memories that had been locked away, like the monster attacking on their anniversary, or the starving young man who had turned on her and snatching something from inside her heart.

'I've always been proud of you, you know that? Even if I scold you about your grades or cut your allowance or make you do extra chores…' She felt a little guilty, knowing some of those instances had been because of Senshi duties and this unavoidable.

Usagi smiled. 'Thank you 'kaa'san.'

'And here.' Ikuko handed over the ring and chain. 'I picked it up this morning, by that portrait of the two of you.'

'Ah.' Usagi took it, clasping the chain, with ring safely with, around her neck without hesitation. 'I've been missing it.'

Ikuko nodded; she had been right after all. 'Now, tell me about Chibiusa.'

'Huh? Why her?'

'Well, I would like to know what my future granddaughter is like.'

* * *

Usagi knocked lightly on her brother's door.

'Go away,' came the immediate answer.

'Oh come now.' She put her free hand on her hip; the other was carrying the plate of cookies that Mamoru and their mother had baked. There was a fair number left over after Shingo's friends had left. 'Don't be a baby.'

'I'm not a baby,' the other snapped.

'Oh yes you are,' Usagi sung, knowing it would rile her brother up. Now that she thought about it, they hadn't bantered in quite some time. To be honest, she missed it.

Shingo threw open his door, then blinked at the plate of cookies thrust at him.

'Peace offering,' Usagi explained.

'Fine,' Shingo scowled, though he wasn't really mad. 'Get on in.'

He shut the door afterwards, throwing himself on the bed with a cookie. The doll his friend had made for him was on the pillow too, the spitting image of Sailor Moon in one of her older outfits. 'I thought only your hair looked like Sailor Moon,' he confessed after a moment of munching from his sister as he stared at his cookie. 'Remember, I teased you about pretending to be like her.'

'I almost burst then,' Usagi said, remembering.

'Yeah, I thought it was pretty funny.' He looked a little embarrassed. 'You've saved my life. And 'kaa-san and 'tou-san too. And a lot of my friends.' He paused. 'How do you do it?'

Usagi groaned. 'Tell me you don't want to hear the whole story?'

'Well…maybe the summarised version for now,' Shingo assented.

'It began with a few kids picking on Luna…'

'Those bullies,' Shingo said immediately. He really liked his sister's odd cat.

'So I yelled at them.'

'Did you cry?'

'Hey?' A pause. 'Well, I was about to…' she said sheepishly. 'But no more interrupting, or you won't get another word.'

'Alright,' Shingo meekly agreed, and listened to her tale.

* * *

'I didn't think of you like that,' he admitted finally. 'I mean, I know you've done some nice things for me. Taking the blame even though you know I was only trying to get you into trouble. Picking me up from swimming every other week. Letting me hang out with your friends. But I really had this other image of Sailor Moon, you know?'

'Hey,' Usagi said suddenly, remembering. 'Did I ever tell you about how Mamo-chan and I first met?'

'Mamo-chan?' Shingo repeated, before grimacing at the "lovey-dovey" nickname. 'Are you and him…_dating_?'

'Don't talk until you've tried it _otouto_,' Usagi grinned. 'And if I recall, you have a very long crush on a certain someone.'

'Uh, well, about your friend –'

Usagi rolled her eyes. 'Not Ami-chan,' she clarified, staring at the Sailor Moon doll.

'Oh – ' He followed her gaze. 'Oh,' he repeated, going a little red, before mumbling. 'I do not have a crush on her.'

'Your face tells otherwise.'

Shingo hid it in his hands.

'Come on,' Usagi said. 'It's fine. You should try talking to Minako-chan; she'll help you get something really pretty. Or maybe ask Mamo-chan for one of his Tuxedo Kamen dolls, like the one he gave Chibiusa.'

'I think this is going to take a little getting used to,' Shingo sighed, looking at the doll he had been giving by his – admittedly – love interest.

Usagi smiled at him. 'Hey, I'm cool now, aren't I?'

Shingo smiled back. 'Yeah,' he agreed. 'You're cool.'

'Good.' She ruffled his hair, messing it up. 'And don't you forget it.' She stood up, finishing her cookie. 'Well, I'm off now.'

'Off where?' Shingo asked.

'Just going to say goodbye to a few friends. You won't know them.'

That was a bit of a fib, as everyone knew the Starlights as pop idols. Still, as they were about to vanish from the world, it was probably better if she left that part of the story out of this particular explanation. He would just forget anyway.

* * *

The roof was a little windy, but not particularly cold and the Senshi stood in a huddled group. The Starlights, and their long-sought princess, though only the latter was in her planetary attire. The Earth's guardians were also in civilian clothing, though Michiru carried her mirror as always and Haruka her sword.

Usagi looked at Seiya; he looked away for a moment, then turned back. 'I guess this is it,' he said, a little hurriedly as though eager to be gone.

'I wish you'd stay a little more,' Ami said, stepping forward a little. 'It seems we barely got to know you.'

'We have our own world to return to,' Taiki said in his usual quiet manner. 'Galaxia all but destroyed it, but now we have the chance to rebuild and we must take it.'

Ami nodded, and Minako stepped forward. 'We'll miss you,' she said. 'Come visit?'

Yaten shrugged. 'That's not an easy thing to do.' He smiled suddenly at the crestfallen faces. 'We'll visit,' he promised, before nudging Seiya. 'Right?'

'Yeah,' Seiya agreed, sounding as though he was thinking of something else.

Kakyuu smiled at him, knowing well what he was thinking. 'Come,' she said gently, and cutting through the chatter that was bound to continue, 'it's time to go.'

The Starlights went to her, and for a moment their backs were illuminated in the light of the moon. Then they turned, and their human disguises fell away, and it was Sailor Star Fight, Star Healer, and Star Maker looking back at them.

Seiya's eyes searched out and found Mamoru's, and in that moment, the words they had never exchanged passed across. Their doubt. Their insecurity. Their jealousy. And finally…their security.

'Take care of her,' Star Fighter said simply, turning away again.

'Of course,' Mamoru said in reply, and then the four they had come to say their farewells to were gone, vanished in a stream of light into the sky.

'Will we see them again?' Hotoru, the youngest of them, asked, looking at her guardians.

'I think we will,' Setsuna replied.

* * *

Usagi collapsed on her bed the moment she returned home, mumbling something incoherent to both parents who were in the living room with a pot of tea. The day had been long, and she was tired, and surely anything else could wait until morning.

Like homework. She groaned when she realised she hadn't even touched it, before chuckling as she realised how quickly she'd fallen back into her old habits. She hadn't done anything for the drawing club either, though that was far less important. On top of her priority list was changing into her pyjamas, brushing her hair, and getting into bed.

In the end, she skipped the second step. Her hair couldn't be worse than yesterday's after all. But just as she was settling into her sheets, there was a soft knock on the door.

'Usagi?'

It was her father.

'Come in,' she yawned.

He came, tiptoeing in case her room was a mess. It wasn't, but one could never be too careful.

'Your mother told me everything,' he whispered, seeing his daughter was tired and wanted rest. 'And I'm a lot of things I guess, but all that can wait until tomorrow.' He stroked her hair like he used to do when she was a child, and she shuffled over a little closer. 'I'm disappointed,' he explained, 'that you didn't tell us also sooner, but I think I understand, or will understand, and I'm also sad to see my lovely young daughter growing up and going away from home, but I'm also…proud.'

Usagi smiled tiredly. 'Thanks 'tou-san,' she said, relieved. 'I'm happy now.'


	11. Epilogue

**A/N: ** Overall, this fic took a lot longer than I expected, but I'm finally at the end of it.

Enjoy, and thanks to all you readers for sticking with me.

* * *

_**The Night Sky**_

_Epilogue_

The sun was just rising, but that didn't stop the young couple from meeting on the balcony of Mamoru's apartment. As long and as late as the night had been, both had things to say that had, quite simply, gone unsaid for far too long.

But for the moment, both of them were enjoying the cool dawn air.

'You're not cold?' Mamoru asked, concerned. He offered a hand, in which Usagi placed one of her own and snuggled a little closer to his chest.

'Hmm…no,' Usagi murmured. 'I'm fine.'

A pause, but certainly not an awkward one. At that moment, they both had all the time in the world.

'I told my parents,' the blonde said finally. 'About being Sailor Moon. All those times I snuck out of the house. About Chibiusa…not that they remembered that bit. And about Luna being able to talk.' She laughed. 'You should have heard my mother when I told her that bit; you'd think she's never seen a talking cat before.'

'I doubt she has,' Mamoru pointed out, though he chuckled. They were all so used to Luna and Artemis and Diana that it was strange thinking that most of the world went without knowing that some were not only capable of understanding human speech but replicating it as well. 'Unless she's walked in on Luna talking in her sleep.'

'About Artemis,' Usagi inputted.

'Really?' That was a new bit of information, though not unexpected. 'They're dating now.'

'Yeah, spent the day roaming around the city then the evening at Minako-chan's.'

'Hmm.'

They fell silent again, watching the sky split with colour.

'Usako –'

'Mamo-chan –'

They turned to look at each other.

'You first,' Mamoru said, placing a finger on his girlfriend's lips as she tried to protest. 'I mean it.'

'Well…' She fingered the ring around her neck once more, before holding it up to Mamoru, still on its chain. 'I didn't realise what you meant when you gave me this,' she said quietly. 'I love you; I really do. I'm just not ready to be an adult yet.'

'Neither am I,' Mamoru confessed, and the next moment they were both exploding into peels of laughter, reaching simultaneously for the rail to support their joint weight.

'We're both idiots,' Usagi chortled eventually.

'No, we're just – ' Mamoru stopped; he had been about to say they were both teenagers, but in truth he was as old as an adult by terms of years lived. Still, it felt he hadn't begun maturing as an adult until he had come to find his identity as Tuxedo Kamen.

'Kids,' Usagi finished, shrugging and failing to see the problem. 'We're just kids who are still growing up.'

'Sounds good,' Mamoru agreed, reaching out to stop the hand that was creeping to the clasp. 'Still, I gave that ring to you and I want you to keep it. Just as it is.' He took her hand again. 'Think of it as a return gift for the locket you gave me on the moon.'

'I still have it,' Usagi said. 'I listened to it every day when you were gone.'

'Maybe one day I'll ask for it back.' He smiled, thinking he wouldn't need it for a long time.

'But America – ' Usagi started, to be stopped by Mamoru's free hand gently on her lips.

'I'm not going.'

The blonde spun around. 'But why not?' she asked. 'If this is about Galaxia, or me –'

'It's not.' Mamoru shook his head. 'I was just floating around; going to America isn't really what I want to do. Not now anyway. Maybe once I've done what I want to do…and maybe you can come with me then. That way we won't be worrying each other sick.'

'Sounds good,' Usagi agreed. 'It'll have to be once I graduate senior high school though.'

'That won't be a problem. It'll take about three years to do a full course anyway.'

'Which one?' Usagi asked curiously. 'What haven't you already tried?'

'Let's see…' Mamoru thought. 'I've done Japanese and English and French, then General Science, Biological Science, Mathematical Science and Engineering…and…hmm…' After a moment, he concluded: 'You know what? I think the only thing I haven't tried is politics.'

It was somewhat ironic, as that would be very helpful in the future when he ruled as King Endymion.

'And you? What are you going to do Usa-ko?'

'Me?' At Mamoru's nod, she answered: 'I'm going to do what I've always done. Plan a little, just do the rest and spread the smiles.' She pursed her lips. 'I wonder what career course that would lead me to?'

'Certainly not psychiatry,' Mamoru said. 'Your patients may come away with smiles, but you'll be in tears.'

'Then you'll kiss them all away.'

'Of course I will.'

The railings glimmered under the new sun.

'Mamo-chan?'

'Yes?'

'Tell me how much you love me?'

'Why?' Mamoru asked, surprised. 'You already know.'

'Tell me anyway.'


End file.
